How to avoid being a victim of crime

They say that crime rates go up during a recession. That would be my experience. I was burgled last week.

It's funny. Friends and family have got very upset on my half. But I think I was lucky. Not a lot was taken, but it has made me very much aware of what can happen. There is a lot to learn – or re-learn – about risk management.

Although very little was taken – a video camera that didn't work, an 'Omega' watch (bought for me in Bangkok, if you catch my drift) that also didn't work – a great deal of damage was done to the property. The thieves raided my kitchen for ketchup, pasta sauce, olive oil and Jamaican hot chilli sauce and sprayed the contents all over the walls, carpets and furniture (the cleaning up took three of us a day). When I came home the flat looked like a scene from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I thought at first the perpetrators might have been angry MoneyWeek readers who'd followed a disappointing junior mining tip. But, here's how I knew they weren't.

I've concluded two things from this. First, if two petty thieves don't know that a gold Kruger has any value, despite the fact that we are in the early stages of what looks set to be history's greatest ever monetary crisis, then this gold bull market has not yet hit mainstream conscious and, thus, has a lot further to go.

Second, that these thieves – and perhaps many others like them – as well as being vandals, were thick, ignorant and not very good at their 'job'.

Crime is a reality of life in London, or indeed any city. Sooner or later the laws of probability state that you will be a victim of it. But there are lots of easy steps you can take to lessen the chances of it happening to you. And if it does happen, there are other steps you can take to minimize the impact. It's just like investing. You study markets to lessen your odds of making a losing trade. But losing trades still happen, so you use stops and other trading disciplines to minimize the damage when they do.

But if the average thief is as thick as my friends, then they are not hard to outwit. Adrenalin is running very high when you're trespassing on someone else's property. The smallest thing will scare them on to the next. Thieves like to get in and out as quickly as possible, so, first, slow them down before they get in. Cylinder locks, more commonly known as 'Yale' locks, are easy to kick down. Deadbolt locks, or 'Chubb' locks are not.

Yet how many people do I know who just pull the door to when they go out, especially on a short trip to the shops or to get the kids from school, and don't bother double locking? Always double-lock the door. Ideally triple-lock it. If you don't have one already, put a second deadbolt lock on your door. It doesn't cost a lot. A front door is then so hard to kick down without making a noise that thieves will quickly move on in search of less secure properties.

What about burglar alarms? Well, I don't like them. They always seem to go off when they're not supposed to, causing disruption to everyone in earshot. But they too have a role. A thief will not hang around if one goes off. They don't like to break windows either, because of the noise, so make sure they too are secure. A barking dog is also an extremely effective deterrent.

If a thief does actually succeed in breaking and entering, make sure anything of value – particularly cash – is well hidden. These people are not MI5 – they won't turn over everything. They will want to grab what they can and go. Leave out a few 'carrots', so they don't leave empty handed and take out their frustration by vandalizing the place, but hide anything of real value.

One more thing, have some insurance. I have never liked like insurance. The providers are playing a numbers game and, by buying it, you're effectively betting against the house. The probability is you won't have that burglary, or that accident , or that car crash – that's how insurers make their money. But in the unlikely event it does happen to you, you'll be glad you have it. (By the way, as we're fond of saying here at MoneyWeek, gold is your insurance against this financial crisis).

And finally, this incident has made me extremely glad I rent. Had I owned my flat I would now feel both violated and fearful, but it would be hard to leave. As I rent, I know I can leave immediately. The damage has been shared by the landlord – as much of it has been done to his property (the walls, the front door, the carpets) as well as mine – so neither of us have taken a direct hit, and he is fully insured. Plus I had a managing agent to help me out. They were superb. They had the door bolted within an hour and fully repaired within 24 hours. I cannot speak highly enough of the way they acted.

The police, on the other hand, though good when they got here, did not come until a day later. I actually got told off by the operator for calling 999. Can you imagine? You've just been burgled, you come home to find your house has been ripped apart and the operator is telling you off because, 'technically, this isn't an emergency'.

I guess it's yet another example, if you needed it, of the private sector working more efficiently than the state.